mouthful of spit to the face<\/a> courtesy of frontman Frank Meyer\u2014this was rock ‘n\u2019 roll, baby, and if you weren\u2019t up for anything, then best stay home. This was the Streetwalkin\u2019 Cheetahs the first 10 years touring across the U.S. and Europe in dive bars, venues and festivals before they disbanded.<\/p>\nBut the siren\u2019s song to play reeled the band back together in 2014 and now the Cheetahs have released a full-length album together, the first in nearly 20 years. \u201cOne More Drink,\u201d which dropped March 19 on\u00a0 Cleveland-based label Dead Beat Records, is an 11-track tread through hard rock, punk, power pop, and new wave sounds, revealing a matured and refined Cheetahs both longtime fans and new listeners can appreciate.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe sort of made a conscious effort to just indulge ourselves and, you know, put a bunch of songs that reflect all the different influences that we have,\u201d founding Cheetahs member and bassist Dino Everett said.<\/p>\n
Everett, said by Meyer to be the \u201ctrue punk\u201d of the band (partly because he may or may not have slept in a dumpster the first few nights he moved to California in the 90s) hammered out anthems \u201cThe Rejected\u201d and \u201cScorpio Rising.\u201d Guitarist Bruce Duff helped flush out the hook-laden rock jam, \u201cBad Vacation.\u201d The album\u2019s single, \u201cWe Are the Ones (We\u2019ve Been Waiting For)\u201d is an ode to Meyer\u2019s love for power-pop and new wave, replete with harmonies and melodic hooks that give the single a pensive but hopeful tone.<\/p>\n
\u201c<\/strong>I wanted to make a memorable record with earworms, songs that have multiple hooks, interesting chord changes and lyrics that just grab you and don\u2019t let go,\u201d Meyer said, noting that songs \u201cAin\u2019t It Summer,\u201d \u201cBad Vacation,\u201d \u201cLet Me Out\u201d are shining examples.<\/p>\nNow sure, there are those stubborn listeners who might balk at an album like \u201cOne More Drink,\u201d with all its sonic variety, and think this isn\u2019t the music they seek the Streetwalkin\u2019 Cheetahs out for. But after 20 years, that\u2019s kind of the point. The five-piece outfit which features founding members Meyer, Everett, and Mike Sessa (drums) with newer additions Bruce Duff (guitar) and Geoff Yeaton (sax) aren\u2019t the same musicians. They\u2019re better, with a lot more life experience to work with.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of our older records tend to sort of be like B-movies\u2014lots of car crashes and knife fights and stick ups and you know, people getting punched in the face and bottles getting thrown and love affairs,\u201d Meyer said by phone from his home in Long Beach. \u201cBut this album, a lot of it is based on, like, divorce, and loss and death and addiction, real life stuff, because we’re not kids anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOne More Drink\u201d is an album 10 years in the making, Meyer said. Once the band reformed in 2014, and began playing more regularly in 2015, Meyer started writing new works for the group. By 2020, Meyer said the band had nearly 30 demos ready for the album. All they had to do was pick their favorites.<\/p>\n
After the pandemic dried up live music and touring opportunities the Cheetahs pivoted toward a more visual direction. Their song \u201cWarzone,\u201d the 10th song on the album, was written in response to the pandemic and police brutality protests. The music video premiered online July 2020. Their newest video \u201cWe Are The Ones (We\u2019ve Been Waiting For),\u201d is a nod to the bright and dark sides of the \u201880s with retro video games, stop-motion puppets and intravenous drug use.<\/p>\n